Elon Musk, Tesla chief executive and the world’s current richest person, has clinched a deal valued at Sh5.09 trn ($44 bn) with Twitter that will see him take over the popular social-media network.
Mr Musk bought the company at $54.20 a share, a 38% premium over the firm’s share price in April. This was after the company had at first decided to rethink the move, even going as far as adopting a limited duration shareholder rights plan, often called a poison pill, before the offer was made. This is only possible if a party acquires 15% of the stock without prior approval, and sought to ensure that anyone taking control of the social media company through open market accumulation pays all shareholders an appropriate
control premium.
“Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated. Twitter has tremendous potential – I look forward to working with the company and the community of users to unlock it,” he said, adding that plans to transform the platform to promote free speech are underway.
Musk also indicated that he was not in it for the economics of Twitter. “Having a public platform that is maximally trusted and broadly inclusive is extremely important to the future of civilization. I don’t care about the economics at all,” he said.
The deal was unanimously approved by Twitter’s board, and is expected to close this year, subject to a vote of Twitter shareholders and certain regulatory approvals. Once he takes over control, Musk has plans to turn the public company to a private one.
It is also interesting to note that the Tesla CEO has aired plans of including a feature that will allow users to edit tweets while combating the current increasing scam bots.
On announcement of the deal, Twitter shares rose 5.7% to close at $51.7, their highest closing value in five months. The stock had also risen to $52 during the day of the announcement and it continued to swing widely as investors were busy monitoring the impact of the sale.
Email your news TIPS to Editor@nairobilawmonthly.com, and to advertise with us, call +254715061658 anytime of the day
